Pivoted well drilling mast and separate tower

ABSTRACT

A foot of a reclining oil well drilling mast is hinged to a substructure. Below the mast the foot of a reclining pipe racking tower is also hinged to the substructure. Means are provided for first swinging the mast up to upright position and for then swinging the tower up to upright position in front of the mast so that vertical pipe can be moved back and forth between them during drilling operations.

United States Patent 91 Jenkins et al.

1 PIVOTED WELL DRILLING MAST AND SEPARATE TOWER [75] Inventors: Cecil Jenkins; Joseph R. Woolslayer,

both of Tulsa, Okla.

[73] Assignee: Lee C. Moore, Tulsa, Okla.

[22] Filed: Apr. 30, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 355,723

[52] US. Cl. 214/2.5, 214/147 G [51] Int. Cl E2lb 19/00 [58] Field of Search.. 214/2.5, 130 R, 1 ED, 147 G; 175/85 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,787,385 4/1957 Campbell 214/1 Q 1 Dec. 3, 1974 ONcill et al7 2l4/2.5 X

Woolslayer et a1. 214/2.5

Primary ExamiherFrank El Werner Attorney, Agent, or FirmBrown, Murray, Flick & Peckham [5 7 ABSTRACT A foot of a reclining oil well drilling mast is hinged to a substructure. Below the mast the foot of a reclining pipe racking tower is also hinged to the substructure. Means are provided for first swinging the mast up to upright position and for then swinging the tower up to upright position in front of the mast so that vertical pipe can be moved back and forth between them during drilling operations.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PIVOTED WELL DRILLING MAST AND SEPARATE TOWER Oil well drilling apparatus such shown, for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,615,027 requires a very large and heavy derrick, due to pipe being racked inside the derrick with the aid of carriages supported by the derrick.

These size and weight factors present a serious problem when a drilling derrick is mounted on a barge or ship for marine drilling, because it is desirable or necessary in such a case to be able to lay the derrick down while it is being floated from one location to another. The pivoting of such a large derrick as the one shown in the patent from upright position to reclining position and vice versa is very difficult, if not impossible as a practical matter. I

It is among the objects of this invention to provide well drilling apparatus which can be pivoted between reclining and upright positions without difficulty, and yet which has as great a capability as the derrick shown in the above-mentioned patent.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. I is a side view showing a drilling mast reclining over a drilling vessel;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the apparatus erected; and

FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus with some of the details omitted.

Although this invention is applicable to land-based oil well drilling apparatus, it is especially suitable for marine drilling where the apparatus is mounted on a barge or ship that requires the mast to be laid down in a reclining position while being transported. Therefore, the apparatus will be described in connection with a floating vessel, but without limitation thereto. As shown in FIG. 1, the drilling apparatus includes a substructure I mounted on a floating vessel 2 having the usual vertical opening through which drilling can be carried on in the bed of an ocean. Mounted on the substructure is an upwardly tapered gin pole 3, the front feet of which are mounted in shoes 4 secured to the top of the substructure. Pivotally mounted in the same shoes, or in other shoes in front of them, are the feet of a tapered drilling mast 5 that extends forward in prone position away from the front of the substructure. The front or lower face of the reclining mast is open and its front end portion rests on a support 6 mounted on the floating vessel. The outer end of the mast supports the usual crown block 7, from which a wire line 8 extends to a travelling block 9 in the mast. One end of the line is dead-ended in the usual manner, and the other end extends rearwardly from the crown block, over the top of the gin pole and down to a drawworks 10 mounted on the rear portion of the substructure.

This mast is relatively small in cross section because it does not have to support any racking platforms nor carriages for moving pipe into and out of such platforms while the mast is upright. The mast can be swung upwardly to upright operating position above the substructure with the help of a sling line 12 attached to the travelling block. The sling extends up around sheaves 13 supported by the upper end of the gin pole and then forward to anchor plates 14 on the back of the prone mast. By operating the drawworks to reel in line 8, the travelling block will be pulled toward the crown block, so line 8 and the sling line will swing the mast upwardly until it is upright as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 and rests against the gin pole, to which it is then fastened.

It will be seen that while the mast is in its prone position there is a prone shorter mast 16, which will be referred to as a pipe racking tower herein, below mast 5. The foot of the tower is pivotally connected or hinged at 17 to the front of the substructure, such as its front legs, some distance below the drilling mast above it and also farther forward than shoes 4. The mast and tower are hinged on parallel axes extending transversely of the substructure. The outer end portion of the reclining tower rests on a support 18 extending upwardly from the drilling vessel behind mast support 6. The back or upper face of the reclining tower is open. The opposite sides of the tower are substantially parallel, as shown in FIG. 3.

' When a location is reached at which drilling is to take place, the drawworks is operated to raise the mast as previously explained. The travelling block then is lowered in the mast and connected to a line 20 or sling that extends down around snatch blocks 21 secured to the top of the substructure. From these blocks the sling extends up and over sheaves 22 in the mast, preferably above the gin pole, and then forward and down to anchor brackets 23 on the upper side of the prone tower. When the drawworks is operated to raise the travelling block in the mast again, it will pull on sling 20 which will thereby swing the tower upwardly and rearwardly into an upright position directly in front of the upright mast as shown in'FIG. 2. The tower then can be detachably connected to the mast in any suitable manner. The open front of the mast faces the open back of the tower. I

The tower supports one or more pipe racking platforms 25 and 26 that include the usual horizontal racking fingers (not shown) for receiving stands of pipe. These are accessible from the open back of the tower. The tower also supports pipe racking equipment, such as carriages 27, 28 and 29 that can move back and forth along horizontal tracks 30 secured to the front of the upright tower as shown in FIG. 3. Movable back and forth through each carriage is a horizontal arm 31, the rear end of which is formed for gripping a stand of pipe or well casing to move it out of the mast and into the racking tower or from the pipe racks into the mast. All of this pipe racking equipment preferably is permanently secured to the tower for raising and lowering with it.

Since the mast does not support the racking platforms and the pipe manipulating carriages and since pipe is not racked inside the mast, it can be made considerably smaller and lighter than the one shown in the above-mentioned patent, and therefore can be raised and lowered without any difficulty. On the other hand, since all that the pipe racking tower has to support are the racking platforms and the carriages and does not have to support the weight of the drill string in the well, the tower can be made much shorter than the mast and can be constructed of much smaller and lighter structural members. The result is that neither the mast nor the tower presents any appreciable erection problem. Yet, when both have been erected and joined together as shown in FIG. 2, the resulting apparatus has the same capabilities as a derrick that is large enough to contain and support the racking platforms and the carriages. Both the mast and the tower are swung up or down by means of the drawworks. Also, the mast forms an elevated support for the line by which the tower-is raised and lowered so that the strain on that line can be held to a minimum.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of and below said mast hinging means, a line attached to the upper side of the prone tower, sheave means up in the upright mast, said line passing over said sheave means and downwardly therefrom, means on said substructure for pulling on said line to swing the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure below the level of the prone position of the mast up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, and means for holding the mast and tower in said upright positions.

2. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 1, in which said pulling means include drawworks mounted on said substructure, said apparatus including a travel- I ling block movable up and down in the mast by means of the drawworks, and second sheave means anchored at the bottom of the mast, said line extending from said first-mentioned sheave means down around said second sheave means and up to said travelling block,

whereby when the travelling block is raised in the mast it will pull on said line and swing the tower upwardly.

3. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side for receiving and storing pipe in substantially upright position, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of said mast hinging means, means for swinging the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, means for holding the mast and tower in said upright position during pipe racking, and a pipe rack mounted inside said tower and accessible from said open front side of the mast for receiving pipe from the mast while the mast and tower are upright, whereby to rack the pipe substantially upright inside the upright tower.

4. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which the mast and tower in said prone positions are disposed with the tower beneath the mast.

5. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, including means supported by said tower for moving stands of pipe from the upright mast into the pipe rack in the upright tower and vice versa.

6. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 5, in which said pipe-moving means are carried upwardly by said tower from its prone position to its upright position.

7. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which said mast is tapered away from said substructure,

and said tower has substantially parallel sides.

l l l Notice of Adverse Decision in Interference In Interference No. 99,159, involving Patent N 0. 3,851,770, C. Jenkins and J. R. Woolslayer, PIVOTED WELL DRILLING MAST AND SEPARATE TOWER, final judgment adverse to the patentees was rendered Sept. 21, 1977, as to claims 1 and 3-7.

[Ofiioial Gazette February 14, 1978.]

Disclaimer 3,851,77O.Ceo2'l J whine and Joseph R. Wollslayer, Tulsa, Okla. PIVOTED WVELL DRILLING BIAST AND SEPARATE TOWER. Patent dated Dec. 3, 1974. Disclaimer filed Jan. 16, 1978, by the assignee, Lee 0. Moore Corporation. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of said patent.

[Ofioz'al Gazette July 11, 1.978.]

UNITED STATES ?ATENT orries I CERTEFEQA'EE @F CQRRECHQN Patent No. 3,851,770 Dated December 3, 197A hikrentofls) Ccil Jenkins; Joseph Woolslayer It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[73] Assigriee Lee C. Moore Gorporetion Tulsa, Okla,

Signed and sealed this 18th day of Fehmar 1975a (SEAL) Attest:

I C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH Ca MASON Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer and Trademarks po'wso (169) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 k .5. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 99 0-356-334, 

1. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of and below said mast hinging means, a line attached to the upper side of the prone tower, sheave means up in the upright mast, said line passing over said sheave means and downwardly therefrom, means on said substructure for pulling on said line to swing the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure below the level of the prone position of the mast up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, and means for holding the mast and tower in said upright positions.
 2. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 1, in which said pulling means include drawworks mounted on said substructure, said apparatus including a travelling block movable up and down in the mast by means of the drawworks, and second sheave means anchored at the bottom of the mast, said line extending from said first-mentioned sheave means down around said second sheave means and up to said travelling block, whereby when the travelling block is raised in the mast it will pull on said line and swing the tower upwardly.
 3. Well drilling apparatus comprising a substructure having a front and a back, a mast with an open front side, means hinging the foot of the mast to the substructure on a horizontal axis, means for swinging the mast from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position above the substructure, a pipe racking tower with an open back side for receiving and storing pipe in substantially upright position, means hinging the foot of the tower to the substructure on a horizontal axis in front of said mast hinging means, means for swinging the tower from a prone position in front of the substructure up to an upright position in front of the upright mast, means for holding the mast and tower in said upright position during pipe racking, and a pipe rack mounted inside said tower and accessible from said open front side of the mast for receiving pipe from the mast while the mast and tower are upright, whereby to rack the pipe substantially upright inside the upright tower.
 4. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which the mast and tower in said prone positions are disposed with the tower beneath the mast.
 5. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, including means supported by said tower for moving stands of pipe from the upright mast into the pipe rack in the upright tower and vice versa.
 6. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 5, in which said pipe-moving means are carried upwardly by said tower from its prone position to its upright position.
 7. Well drilling apparatus according to claim 3, in which said mast is tapered away from said substructure, and said tower has substantially parallel sides. 